Istanbul 2020: Turkey inspired by the team's best ever performance at the Paralympics

LAURA WALDEN / Sports Features Communications

September 7 – Turkey’s Paralympic achievements at London 2012 have had an effect on the Istanbul 2020 bid for the Games with the country’s best ever performance.

So far Turkey has won nine medals at the Paralympics and the lineup started with Nazmiye Muslu who won gold in powerlifting and set a new world record. Then there were two more in the same sport one silver and one bronze, then in women’s judo another silver and a bronze, a bronze in goalball, a silver in men’s shooting, then a bronze in archery, and finally a silver in table tennis.

Muslu said, “The success of Turkey’s Paralympians here in London shows what is possible; just imagine what success we could achieve in front of a home crowd if we had the honour of hosting Turkey’s first ever Paralympic Games in Istanbul in 2020.

“I firmly believe that a home Paralympic Games in Turkey would transform national attitudes to people with a disability - not just in sport, but across the whole of society. This is one of the legacies that we are striving for in our Istanbul 2020 bid.

“The Istanbul 2020 Paralympics would lead to greater understanding and inclusion. That will accelerate advances in accessibility and help create a barrier-free society for Turkey.”

Hasan Arat, leader of the Istanbul 2020 bid also noted, “I am so proud of all our Paralympians, especially our medallists who have shown the progress that Turkey is making on the world stage.

“The 2020 Paralympics in Istanbul would help us to build on this success and leave a sustainable legacy for all people in Turkey with a disability.”

Currently Istanbul has a high level team at the Paralympics participating in the observer program the same as with the other two bid cities Tokyo and Madrid. All three will be adding to their final bid files their own interpretation of their offer to host the Paralympics in 2020.

The final decision will be voted in Buenos Aires on one year from today at the IOC session.

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